About this artwork
In 1937 Goldberg designed a simple prefabricated plywood panel house as a demonstration for the Purdue Housing Research Project in Lafayette, Indiana. Two years later, this experimental design formed the basis for his Standard Houses Corporation, founded with the goal of building a “model community” instead of a single model house. After securing an advance on materials from local manufacturers, Goldberg and his associate Gilmer Black built a small community of five prefabricated houses in the Chicago suburb Melrose Park. With the assistance of articles in several local papers, the Standard Houses received 3,000 visitors in a single day. Attesting to his keen understanding of popular taste, Goldberg’s high-tech, factory-built structures were marketed as traditional Cape Cods and Colonials, with wood siding, gabled roofs, shutters, and optional fireplaces—houses that catered to the overwhelming popular preference for modern houses packaged in traditional exteriors.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Architecture and Design
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Artist
- Bertrand Goldberg (Architect)
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Title
- Standard Houses, Perspective
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Place
- Maryland (Object made for)
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Date
- Designed 1934–1944
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Medium
- Graphite and Conté crayon on board
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Dimensions
- 38 × 51 cm (14 15/16 × 20 1/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Archive of Bertrand Goldberg, Gifted by his Children through his Estate
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Reference Number
- RX23664/131.26
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
